Traveling lock for gun carriages



Dec. 8, 1925. 1.564.395

H. C. ZIMMERMAN TRAVELING LOCK FOR GUN CARRIAGES Filed Aug. 25, 1924 gmznlom Han E Zimmerman Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

P A 'l' HARRY C. ZIMIMEERMAN, OF "WASHINGTDN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

TRAVELING LQCK FOR GUN CARRIAGE-S.

Application filed August 25, 1924. Serial No. 734,059.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT 3F T ll? RC}? 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. Znnrun- MAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Vashington, District of Columbia, have invented an Improvement in Traveling Looks for Gun oarriages, of

which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its officers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States. without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1888.

The subject of this invention is a traveling lock for gun carriages.

hen mobile gun carriages are swung to their limbers for traveling, the gun is retracted on its cradle to relieve the carriage of its unbalanced weight.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide means for locking the carriage in traveling position and for taking up lost motion in the assembled parts about the pintle to relieve stresses on the elevating and traversing gears when on the march.

The locking apparatus includes a pair of members universally mounted on the carriage trails as permanent equipment thereof, each of the members being adapted to be hooked to the top carriage and drawn to locking position by a lever movable through an arc of 180. When disengaged from the top carriage, the members will swing free so as not to interfere with maneuvering of the gun.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 45 in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a gun carriage and cradle showing the position of the traveling lock;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the looking members, showing the lever in operative position;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation taken from between the locking members; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the shaft.

1963; STAT. L. 625.)

Referring to the drawings by characters and numerals'of reference:

The gun carriage includes the usual axle A and pintle B, which respectively support parallel trails C and a top carriage D. The gun barrel which is retracted when in traveling position is mounted in a cradle E, trunnioned in the top carriage. The top carriage is provided at its rear end with opposite projecting pins 10 for receiving the free ends of a pair of locking devices which are identical in all respects.

Each of the locking devices is permanently mounted to one of the trails C by means of an angular bracket 11, carrying a freely rotatable shaft 12, the inner end of which is received vby the forks 13 of a socket member 14. A coupling pin 15 passing through registering apertures completes the universal joint.

A rod 16 threaded to the socket 14 may be selectively held in adjusted position by a cotter pin 17 passing through the rod and positioned at any desired point within the limits of slots 18 formed in opposite sides of the socket. The opposite end of the rod is formed with a head 19 having a transverse bearing for receiving a shaft 20, which is of non-circular shape throughout as shown, or may be formed with non-circular ears, to retain a bifurcated lever 21 having similarly shaped apertures whereby rotation of the lever will produce rotation of the shaft.

The shaft is formed with projecting eccentric pins 22 on which are mounted parallel link bars 23 spaced by a separator 24, riveted thereto and terminating in hooked ends 25.

When the lever 21 is rotated to forward position the link bars 23 will be extended longitudinally with respect to the rod 16, so that their hoked ends may freely engage the projections 10 on the top carriage D. When the lever is reversed the overall length of the rod and link bars will be decreased, the resultant pressure on the top carriage connections preventing disengagement of the locking apparatus. The eccentricity of the pins 22 is such that movement of the lever through an arc of 180 or less will securely lock or permit release of the hooked ends of the link bars.

When disengaged, the locking devices may be allowed to swing free where they will not interfere with maneuvering of the gun.

WVhile in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, is is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A look for gun carriages including a socket member mounted fornniversal movement on each of the trails, a rod threaded in said socket, means for adjnstably holding the rod to the socket, a shaft freely rotatable in one end of the rod, eccentric pins formed on the shaft, a pair of link bars mounted on the pins, said link bars terminating in hooked ends, projecting pins on the top carriage for receiving the hooked ends, and a lever fitted to the shaft for rotating the shaft whereby to reciprocate the link bars.

2. A lock for gun carriages including a socket member mounted for universal movement on each of the trails, a rod threaded in said socket, a shaft freely rotatable in one end of the rod, eccentric pins formed on the shaft, a pair of link bars mounted on the pins, said link bars terminating in hooked ends, projecting pins on the top carriage for receiving the hookedends, and a lever fitted to the shaft for rotating the shaft whereby to reciprocate the link bars.

3. A lock for gun carriages including a socket member pivotally mounted on each of the trails, a rod threaded in the socket,

a shaft freely rotatable in one end of the rod, eccentric pins formed on the shaft, a pair of link bars mounted on the pins, said link bars terminating in hooked ends, projecting pins on the top carriage for receiving the hooked ends, and means for rotating the shaft whereby to reciprocate the link bars.

4. A lock for gun carriages including a socket member pivotally mounted on each of the trails, a rod threaded in the socket, a shaft freely rotatable in one end of the rod, eccentric pins formed on the shaft, top carriage engaging members mounted on the pins, and means for rotating the shaft whereby to reciprocate said members.

5. A lock for gun carriages including a pair of rigid elements, a pivot member for connecting the elements, one of said. elements being eccentrically mounted thereon,

and formed with top carriage engaging terminals and a lever for rotating the pivot member whereby to reciprocate the eccen: trically mounted element. a

6. A look for gun carriages including a support, an adjusting element carried by the support, a carriage engaging element, and means connecting the carriage engaging element to the adjusting element operable to move the engaging element into and out of engaging position.

HARRY G. ZIMMERMAN. 

